As the use of distributed memory compute clusters increases to meet
cost and scalability demands, the importance of providing effective and
efficient communication between cluster nodes is growing. Within the PDSL we
seek to assess and improve the efficiency of various low-latency
interconnects using the "Crash And Burn (CAB)" research cluster as
an evaluation tool. We also
try to simplify the process of programming clusters through unique applications of
DSM (Distributed Shared Memory) techniques.

In shared memory parallel computing environments (including small
scale multiprocessor and multi-core architectures) the use of traditional
lock based synchronization methods introduces unnecessary overhead and
undesirable scheduling anomalies. In the PDSL we are designing and
implementing key algorithms for complex data structures (most notably
balanced trees) using lock-free techniques in an attempt to address these
issues.

Mobile computing with such devices as PDAs, cell phones and laptops
is becoming increasingly common. A large number of capabilities we take for
granted in the wired network world are missing or poorly supported in mobile
scenarios, especially those based on Ad-Hoc networks. Our interest in the
PDSL is to address such fundamental problems as dynamicity, reliability and
power management in an effort to build underlying services for mobile
computing that are useful
to all.

The ubiquity of computing devices is continually increasing with
the number of embedded computers being deployed now outnumbering the number
of "visible" machines by multiple orders of magnitude. Integrating all of these
devices together so that they can interoperate to the advantage of human
users is an immense challenge. Of particular interest in the PDSL are issues
of interoperability, context sensitivity, automation of device discovery
and interaction and mechanisms for the automated addition of new services.

The sharing of computing resources has grown from LAN-based sharing
of disks and printers through institution-wide sharing of computers to
wide-area/Grid-based sharing of machines, datasets, software and high-end
visualization facilities. The key challenges in making such systems work and
be useful to end users who are typically not computer scientists/engineers are the scale, autonomy and inherent unreliability of such
systems. This is often compounded by the very long running times of many
jobs. In the PDSL we are interested in adding dynamicity and reliability into grids
with a focus on
resource discovery and management.